'I'm not running': Hillary Clinton again tamps down speculation of rematch with Trump

Hillary Clinton says she won't run for president in 2020, but vows she's "not going anywhere." Clinton ruled out another campaign during an interview posted Monday by TV station News 12 Westchester. However, she said she'll keep speaking out. (March 5)
AP

WASHINGTON – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton definitively declared on Monday "I'm not running" in the 2020 presidential election, again throwing cold water on the still smoldering rumors that she might go for a 2016 rematch against President Donald Trump.

"I'm not running, but I'm going to keep working and speaking and standing up for what I believe," she said in an interview with News 12, a regional cable news network in New York. "I'm not going anywhere."

Clinton has been an outspoken critic of her 2016 opponent and his administration's policies since her defeat. On Twitter and in public appearances, she has spoken out on issues ranging from migrant children separated from their families by immigration officials, to gun control and voter suppression.

"What's at stake in our country, the kinds of things that are happening right now are deeply troubling to me," she told News 12. "We've gotten, not just polarized, we've gotten really into opposing camps, unlike anything that I have seen in my adult life."

It was not the first time Clinton has said she wasn't running, but despite her protestations, rumors that she was considering a run persisted. Former Clinton adviser Mark Penn wrote an op-ed in November for The Wall Street Journal predicting she would make another run.

At the end of January, CNN's Jeff Zeleny reported that "Clinton is telling people that she's not closing the doors to the idea of running in 2020."

Clinton herself fueled some of the speculation when she conceded, "I'd like to be president," even as she denied wanting to run again in an interview ahead of the midterm elections.

The sense that she might want another shot at Trump has also been kept alive in part by Clinton's comments expressing frustration at the 2016 result and the sense that she was robbed of victory. Since the election, Clinton has blamed her loss on former FBI Director James Comey, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the news media, sexism and Sen. Bernie Sanders among other factors.

But former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said to "take her at her word" when she says she is not running, in response to Zeleny's report.

"I think she would have been a great president but that's in the past, and she said she's not running," Podesta told CNN in January.

Clinton speaks onstage during the Child Mind Institute Summit: The State of Child & Adolescent Mental Health at the Paley Center for Media on Nov. 13, 2017, in New York City. Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

Clinton poses with 2017 Tony Winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Play Michael Aronov backstage at "Oslo" on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on July 2, 2017, in New York City. Bruce Glikas, FilmMagic

Clinton greets former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at the conclusion of her speech during the commissioning of the USS Gabrielle Giffords on June 10, 2017, in Galveston, Texas. Daniel Kramer, Getty Images

Clinton receives her honorary degree from Medgar Evers College, presented by James B. Milliken, chancellor of The City University of New York, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 8, 2017. Richard Drew, AP

Patti LuPone as "Helena Rubinstein," Clinton and Christine Ebersole as "Elizabeth Arden" pose backstage after the opening night performance of the new musical "War Paint" on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on April 6, 2017 in New York City. Bruce Glikas, FilmMagic

Clinton greets the audience before speaking at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards at the The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 8, 2017, in Washington. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Clinton poses with Fred Johanson, Michael Xavier, Siobhan Dillon and Glenn Close backstage at the musical "Sunset Boulevard" on Broadway at the Palace Theater on Feb. 15, 2017, in New York City. Bruce Glikas, FilmMagic

Former secretaries of State John Kerry, Clinton, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright talk at the start of a reception celebrating the completion of the U.S. Diplomacy Center Pavilion at the State Department on Jan. 10, 2017. Zach Gibson, European Pressphoto Agency

Reporter:
William Cummings is a Political Reporter for USA TODAY's NOW team. He lives in suburban Maryland with his wife and two children. His passions are travel, baseball, binge-watching television and eating crabs. Likes: red meat, bourbon and sunset boat rides. Dislikes: people who stand in doorways.&nbsp;